skbreese's Full Review: Charles Stanley - Landmines in the Path of the Bel...
As any Christian will tell you, being a believer does not exempt one from temptation. If anything, the temptations are stronger, but the ability to effectively put your faith into practice, should make it easier to deal with the temptations that are a normal part of life. In his book, Landmines in the Path of the Believer: Avoiding the Hidden Dangers, Dr. Charles Stanley provides practical advice to help believers live an abundant, victorious life, by defusing the potential landmines and their consequences.
Dr. Stanley has been in the ministry for over 50 years, and is the author of over 50 books. He has been the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Atlanta since 1971, and is the host of the weekly radio and television broadcast In Touch, which features his inspirational messages.
In this book, Dr. Stanley uses the metaphor of a battlefield, to explain the potential dangers of negative attitudes and behaviors that can prevent believers from living the life of peace, joy, and contentment that are part of God's plan. The book is divided into ten chapters, including an introductory chapter entitled The Hidden Threat, and a concluding chapter entitled Defusing the Landmines Along Your Path. The remaining chapters deal with the potential landmines of Pride, Jealousy and Envy, Insecurity, Compromise, Unforgiveness, Disappointment, Fear, Immorality, and Slothfulness. Dr. Stanley includes an in-depth analysis of each of the potential landmines, their consequences in the life of the believer, and practical methods for defusing them. For example, in the chapter on Pride, Dr. Stanley explains that people fall victim to pride for several reasons including self-centeredness, feelings of inadequacy, immaturity, inability to handle responsibility, and inability to handle wealth, position, and gifts God has given, and explores several steps for dealing with pride (briefly paraphrased): confessing, asking for forgiveness, praying for deliverance, avoiding comparing yourself to others, and being willing to experience adversity, to name a few. Dr. Stanley also includes references to scripture in each chapter, as he explains to the reader how to identify, avoid, and defuse the landmines. In the chapter on Immorality, he uses the example of Soloman who, according to scripture, did not deny himself any pleasure his eyes desired, but found them all to be ultimately unfulfilling and disappointing, and his heart full of emptiness. (Eccl 2:10-11) Some readers may find this chapter particularly challenging due to Dr. Stanley's rather hard line, black and white view of immorality. Another drawback to this book, is that sometimes Dr. Stanley's instructions for dealing with a particular attitude or behavior requires a much deeper commitment, than some people may be willing to invest, in order to achieve maximum results.
Written in very simple, straightforward, easy to follow prose, Dr. Stanley provides sound instruction that is neither judgmental or preachy, as evidenced in the following excerpt:
"You may feel as though you are standing in a minefield and you do not know which way to turn. But I want to assure you, that God knows. He has a plan for your rescue. No matter how great the temptation, you can take back any spiritual ground you have given to the enemy and reclaim your rightful position as a child of God."
In fact, Dr. Stanley is a master of encouragement, which in my opinion, is the most effective method of ministering to others.
In this insightful, inspirational, 236 page book, Dr. Stanley provides biblical principles for dealing with potentially dangerous landmines that almost every believer faces at some point in their lives, and helps the reader develop the skills necessary to face the temptations. In the process of reading this book, I discovered several particular areas of weakness in my own life, in the areas of insecurity and compromise, and Dr. Stanley's principles were particular meaningful, in helping me to understand these attitudes, and ways to prevent them from leading to negative consequences.
This is a well written book, that is meant to enable the believer to put their faith into action. However, much like an instruction book in golf or tennis, the reader must put the principles into action, in order to get the full benefit.
I recommend Landmines in the Path of the Believer for Christians who are seriously interested in making a commitment to recognizing and dealing with potentially self-destructive attitudes and behaviors that are often lurking just below the surface, but have the potential to explode, with damaging consequences. Otherwise, reading it will be of limited value.
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